As such a kind of conventional elevator call registration system, there has been known one in which in an automatic operation type elevator, a call registration device is equipped with a braille plate with braille representation capable of being operated by visually handicapped persons, and a sensor is attached to the braille plate for detecting that a human body touches or contacts the braille plate, so that the content of the braille on the braille plate thus touched or contacted is broadcast and guided, based on a detection signal from the sensor, with voice by means of a voice guidance device (for example, see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 9-110319).
In addition, an elevator operation control device has been known in which inside an elevator or at a hall side, there is installed an operation panel with operation buttons arranged thereon for instructing elevator operations, and which serves to recognize a visually handicapped person and switch the operation of the elevator into an operation mode for visually handicapped persons, so that when a hand touch to a face plate, on which the operation buttons are arranged, is detected, and when another hand touch (i.e., to a touch sensor) other than the hand touch to the face plate is detected, a visually handicapped person is recognized on the condition that an operation button is pushed within a predetermined period of time from such detection, and the determination of recognition is reset on the condition that there is no pushing operation (for example, see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-2331).
However, recent elevator call registration systems are provided with a touch panel display in order to enhance the contents of guidance. For example, such a system includes a sensor that is installed on each hall of an elevator for detecting the walking speed of a user, a white cane, etc., a weak person determining section that determines, based on the detection result of this sensor, whether users include a weak person such as an old person, a visually handicapped person, etc., an announcement instruction section that increases the volume of an announcement in an elevator car and at the same time switches the content of the announcement when a weak person is detected by the weak person determining section, and a touch panel control section that improves the visibility and operability of a touch panel operation section in the car upon detection of the weak person by the weak person determining section. Moreover, the display size or contrast is intended to be increased for improved visibility of the touch panel operation section, the size of each button is increased to ease pressing for improved operability of the touch panel operation section, and minute or fine operation guidance is carried out for switching of the announcement content (for example, see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2002-53273).
However, the conventional elevator call registration system equipped with the touch panel display, though including the weak person determining section for detecting visually handicapped persons, poses the following problems. That is, upon detection of a white cane or the like, those which resemble a white cane are detected by mistake, or detection is impossible at rush hours or crowded times, or voice guidance flows uselessly at the use of an able-bodied person.
Also, there are additional problems as stated below. When a quick trace is conducted by a user, or when touch is frequently repeated, a plurality of control contents are successively guided by voice, so that the user might easily make a mistake in recognizing an area to be operated, and noise in the surroundings of the elevator hall becomes large.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an elevator call registration system in which when a visually handicapped person uses an elevator, a user's call can be registered by providing accurate voice guidance without especially installing any weak person determining section for detecting visually handicapped persons.